Courts generally ban picture taking, except to allow some limited news media photography on a case-by-case basis. St. Louis courts also once banned cellphones with cameras, when those were uncommon, but relented when it became almost impossible to find a phone without a camera.

Recent incidents in St. Louis and elsewhere have some judges rethinking whether to ban cellphones from courtrooms and even courthouses.

“It’s a national problem,” said St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason in a recent interview. “Judges across the country are coming down on this.”

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“It’s hard for me to understand how people would think there was no problem,” the judge said. He emphasized that in any event, courthouse rules and culture will not yield.